Ralph Gold, the former Birmingham City director who secured more than £10 million selling his stake in the club to new owner Carson Yeung, believes the club will attract new support in the world's most populous country.

Yeung, who completed his takeover of the club last month, has a number of initiatives prepared to drive awareness of the club in his native China, with the club's Chinese ownership expected to make it the Premier League team of choice for more than 1.3 billion people. The likes of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have been keen to drive their business in China in recent months, but Gold is confident Yeung's ownership will prove key.

"The people of China will enthusiastically back Birmingham City," Gold told the Birmingham Mail. He also called on Yeung to invest the necessary funds to take the club to the next level.

"We did a remarkable deal, one which we couldn’t refuse," he said. "But that doesn't affect the club; the club will be strong because of it. The new owners have had to invest, but we invested. We invested big time.  They have had to invest to get on that ledge, to now move on they have to further invest in the club."

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"We will become the first Chinese owners of a club in the Premier League. Our business will be idolised. We will be bringing glory to the Chinese people," said Vico Hui, chief executive of Yeung's Grandtop International, to the Daily Telegraph in August.

"China has a huge market. We will try to promote the business. We may talk to the management about swapping players between China and the UK to improve Chinese football technique."